The King's Shedding Crisis

The Mirror Woman muttered to herself, somewhat confused, then scrolled through her phone and found a tweet that Lord Cong Yu had posted earlier.

"!!!" It's Cong Yu's new girlfriend!

(Cong Yu:???)

--

"Bite--"

After the elevator reached the 22nd floor, Nagashima Riko was immediately startled... In front of her was a huge floor.

It's a huge room.

It's almost the size of an entire football field... but from the outside, even without counting the walls, the building itself doesn't appear to be that long or wide.

Perhaps this is what makes eccentrics so formidable?

However, Nagashima Riko was not frightened for that reason; what startled her for a moment was the person sitting in the room.

Behind the table, which resembled an interview desk, were several patches of pure darkness... or rather, shadows.

A humanoid existence composed of simple, shadow-like silhouettes.

It looks like a pure black projection from a shadow puppet show, a two-dimensional shadow figure.

There are two such shadow figures in total.

They are clearly women, judging from their figures and long hair... but there seems to be a difference in age.

The figure sitting in the center has a good figure, is very tall, and looks like an adult.

The person sitting to her right looked like a female high school student.

The imbalance of female dominance in this Monster Group is truly severe.

"..."

After catching her breath, Nagashima Riko overcame her strange feeling, swallowed, and greeted them.

Then, at the almost simultaneous gesture of the two people, he sat down in the only chair that belonged to the "interviewee".

Because she was the only one who came for the interview today.

"Hello, I'm Little Shadow."

The figure, who looked like a high school student, was the first to speak and introduce himself.

The shadow sitting in the center was rummaging through a large pile of papers in front of her, finally selecting one and holding it up.

It was written on the paper--

[Hello, I am Big Shadow, and she is my clone. As the clones iterate downwards, their power will become weaker, but their physical bodies will become more human-like... including their language and eating abilities.]

"..." What a strange person, truly amazing.

Nagashima Riko's feelings at this moment were a mixture of shock and novelty; for the first time, she had a real sense of "stepping into the Dark Side of the world."

"Hello, I'm Nagashima Riko."

For the respectful Nagashima Riko, Big Shadow found a sign: [I have already reviewed your resume.]

Then, Little Shadow spoke up, "Earth City Women's University isn't a prestigious institution... Of course, this will only affect your salary."

Nagashima Riko immediately felt a sense of disorientation...

Why does this Monster Group even consider academic qualifications when hiring?!

What career path would you like to pursue in the future?

Big Shadow held up the sign, while Little Shadow immediately added, "For example, someone who wants to work as a field agent or an office worker."

"Or perhaps a combatant... Of course, if you want to become a combatant, you might need to undergo some degree of monster modification, and I hope you can accept that psychologically."

Nagashima Riko is still somewhat resistant to becoming a weirdo... because she's worried about becoming ugly.

He was afraid of being caught and killed by a magical girl.

However, it seems that Cong Yu had mentioned this to her before...

"In fact, I run a coffee shop on Heart Commercial Street, a prime location, and I can offer private rooms there as a base for the group."

As Nagashima Riko said this, Big Shadow and Little Shadow exchanged a glance... although from the outside, neither of them had eyes.

The job applicant doesn't need to bring this up.

Because after the other party confirms their employment, the group should also make similar arrangements after investigating the applicant's information.

After all, you can never have too many strongholds.

However, if the applicant states this directly, it's a subtle hint... Someone reminded her that she could say it that way.

He's either an oddball in the field or Cong Yu, that social butterfly.

[That's settled then. Here is our group's code of conduct and a basic list of executives. Please memorize them.]

Big Shadow held up a sign with fixed example sentences, while Little Shadow pushed a booklet toward Nagashima Riko, adding details, "You don't need to pay too much attention to the former, just skim through it. The basic idea is not to disclose the group's affairs to outsiders."

"The list of cadres at the end of the handbook is quite important. I hope you can match the cadres' faces with their names to avoid offending them."

Regarding salary, I don't want to ask about your expected salary first. Based on the most basic principle, the salary for civilians who provide the base is 3,000 yuan per month... and a year-end bonus will be paid out at the end of the year.

"The specific job duties are to ignore all guests who behave strangely and treat them normally. Beyond that, we will not interfere in your life."

"..." Nagashima Riko pondered for a moment, then realized... this just meant she'd suddenly have a bunch of weirdo customers and be getting paid for nothing!

Oh no! I should have joined the weirdo sooner!

Chapter 117 The King's Shedding Crisis

"On the day of the Beginning of Summer, no camellias Bloom, yet snow weighs down the pine branches?"

Cong Yu sat in his office, reciting a short poem from the paper in his hand. He glanced at the snow-covered landscape outside the window. "Haiku?"

To be honest, Cong Yu isn't very educated.

He couldn't even write regulated verse, which was his original field.

Regulated verse won't do; at best, I can play Hearthstone.

Or compose a poem like, "[One petal, two petals, three or four petals, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten petals; thousands, tens of thousands, countless petals, all fly into the plum blossoms and disappear]".

Not to mention haiku.

If you were to Cong Yu to improvise a couple of lines... something like, "I forgot to do my homework, so I'm standing in the corridor, rushing forward (Mogami River)"?

Or...

[Ren's crimes are heinous, Sony's supporters are full of complaints, and he's already dead.] Something like that?

Cong Yu wasn't quite sure either. Holding the pen in Snow Woman's office, she wanted to write something, but she couldn't write a single word.

To be honest, although Cong Yu's grades are not bad, she is not a very cultured person, or rather... she is cultured, but lacks depth.

If you let him copy something by Matsuo X-Sho, there shouldn't be any problem.

But when he actually wrote it himself, he still couldn't do it.

With this thought in mind, Cong Yu checked the time... it was almost nine o'clock in the morning, but the Snow Woman still hadn't appeared.

Today is May 5th, Sunday...

Is Snow Woman- onna on vacation?

At that moment, a young girl's panting voice came from the office doorway. "Huff... I'm going to die."

Oh my god! Snow Woman, your North Capital is too cold!

Then, a cool yet amused voice responded, "This is North Capital. If you're cold, I'll find you some warm clothes."

To this, the little girl replied nonchalantly, "No need for that, I'll warm up with some wine later!"

"..." Then, accompanied by the sound of a key being inserted into the door, a woman in white with white hair and a blonde little girl with two long horns and a bow tied behind her head entered the office.

"Ah, Cong Yu, you really came."

"Yeah! I knew it!"

The two seemed completely unsurprised by Cong Yu's arrival. After all, the Snow Woman knew it was her birthday.

Without hesitation, the little girl put down the gourd of wine in her hand and reached for the gift box that Cong Yu had placed on the desk.

"Let's see what gift you gave the Snow Woman."

Cong Yu gently patted the little girl's hand, stopping her from speaking so bluntly.

"You're being incredibly rude, Shuten."

While instructing the horned loli named Shuten, Cong Yu put down the haiku of the Snow Woman in her hand and flicked her forehead. "Don't open other people's gifts."

The Snow Woman grabbed Shuten's horn, threatening, "Don't move, or I'll rip the ribbon off your horn."

Then, the Snow Woman began to unwrap the gifts with an expectant expression.

Cong Yu simply sat down next to Shuten and casually struck up a conversation with her. "You're here to celebrate Snow Woman's birthday too?"

In response, Shuten took a light sip of the sake from his gourd and pursed his lips. "I have no interest in that... I came here specifically to see you."

"Looking for me?"

"Yes, after all, you'd definitely be in North Capital today. Otherwise, who knows where you'd be in Wind City— "

Shuten said this, spreading his hands with a helpless expression. "After all, when we find you, you're usually at which girl's house."

In response, Cong Yu immediately grabbed her from behind by the corner of her head and pulled her head back. "Don't make baseless accusations and slander someone's innocence!"

Shuten tilted his head back and waved his hands wildly towards the sky. "Let go, Cong Yu, let go... My horn isn't your armrest!"

After realizing his resistance was futile, Shuten, who was shouting like this, gritted his teeth and thrust his head back sharply. "Super Headbutt!"

"Puff!"

Cong Yu, whose stomach was being rammed, nearly coughed up a mouthful of blood. He then leaned back, still gripping the Shuten, and fell to the ground.

While the two were playfully bickering, the Snow Woman had already opened Cong Yu's gift, which contained a greeting card and a cake.

Greeting cards are a standard practice, and they usually include some auspicious wishes every year, but a small cake is much more heartwarming.

She preferred cake to bouquets.

The Snow Woman immediately showed a look of surprise. She looked at Cong Yu, who was riding on Shuten's back and wrestling with the Oni Clan: "The cake looks delicious. Did you make it yourself?"

As Snow Woman asked this, she watched Cong Yu, who had barely managed to suppress his emotions and was sitting on Shuten's lap, knowing that the situation would soon be reversed.

The power of demons is still terrifying.

Although she knew what kind of answer the Snow Woman wanted, Cong Yu still honestly shook her head. "Of course, I'll buy it."

"I can cook, make steamed buns and dumplings, but when it comes to making cakes... um, wait a minute."

Cong Yu drawled out his words, then thought for a moment, "If I buy cake base and cream, I can actually make the cake myself."

Considering this, Cong Yu smiled and raised one finger, "Then, next time the five of us get together, I'll make a cake for you."

The Snow Woman immediately smiled approvingly, indicating that she was looking forward to it.

Because Cong Yu loosened one of his grips, Shuten, who had been under his control, immediately found an opportunity. "Mount Togakushi Throw!"

Shouting like this, Shuten stretched out his hands and grabbed Cong Yu's waist. Then he lifted her up suddenly, flipped his body, and used his body to slam Cong Yu to the ground.

"Boom!!!"

As the office floor shook violently and huge cracks appeared in the tiles, Shuten completed the upward and downward reversal.

"Hahaha!"

With his hands on his hips and laughing, Shuten straddled Cong Yu's waist. "When it comes to close combat, Cong Yu, you're still too weak! Weak weak, weak!"

"..."

"Where did you learn to speak like a little devil?"

Cong Yu complained, patting Shuten's buttocks to signal her to get off him, then clutching his waist and sighing as he sat down again.

I was hit hard, and I feel like the lifespan of my lumbar intervertebral discs has decreased again.

The Snow Woman looked helplessly at the office floor... the pristine white tiles were now shattered beyond recognition.